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Not getting enough ZZZ's: 10 reasons to hate sleep loss

With Daylight Savings Time here, everyone in the U.S. can expect to lose and hour of sleep. For many people, such sleep deprivation is a real problem.

We all know that not getting enough sleep makes us grumpy and feel foggy. Losing sleep on a regular basis, though, can be downright dangerous.

The following slides show 10 surprising and serious things associated with sleep loss.

Sleep deprivation was a factor in some of the biggest disasters in recent history: the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, and others. Being drowsy, though, is particularly dangers on the road. Being sleep deprived can slow down a driver's reaction time as much as if the driver were legally drunk. Officials say 100,000 auto accidents can be blamed on fatigue each year in the U.S.

Sleep is extremely important when it comes to learning and cognitive thinking. Of course, lack of sleep impairs a person's concentration. If you don't get enough sleep during the night, the brain isn't able to consolidate memories during the day.

Chronic sleep loss can put you at risk of heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes. Some estimates show that 90 percent of people with insomnia also have another health condition.

Over time, lack of sleep can contribute to the symptoms of depression. In a study of 10,000 people in 2007, those with insomnia were more likely to develop depression than those who get enough sleep.

Sleep deprivation can lead to lackluster skin, fine lines and dark circles under the eyes. Your body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol when you don't get enough sleep. The hormone can break down skin colagen, which is the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic.

If you want to keep your memory sharp, be sure to get plenty of sleep. Researchers in the U.S. and France found that brain events called "sharp wave ripples" are responsible for consolidating memory. The wave ripples occur during the deepest part of sleep.

It seems when it comes to sleep, when you snooze, you do lose. A 2004 study found that people who sleep less than six hours of sleep a day were almost 30 percent more likely to become obese than those who get seven to nine hours. Research also found that sleep loss stimulates appetite and cravings for high fat, high carbohydrate foods.

British researchers looked at how sleep patterns impacted the mortality rates of more than 10,000 people over two decades. They found that those who had cut their sleep from seven to five hours or fewer nearly doubled their risk of death from all causes. In particular the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Sleep deprivation can alter your interpretation of events. That can hurt your ability to assess situation and act on them smartly. Sleep deprived people seem to especially have poor judgement when it comes to assessing what the lack of sleep is doing to them.

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